The Extra Mile
by Girl Next Door 92
Summary: Kim Connweller is tired of laying low.
1. Prologue

Prologue

I met Jared Cameron on my first day of middle school. He had black curls that fell over his forehead, a square jaw that softened when he smiled, and brown eyes that made him resemble a kitten more than a boy. He was as extroverted as I was shy, and by recess that day he had a dozen friends and I had none-but it didn't matter to me until Peter tripped me.

I hadn't noticed the foot thrown out until far too late. I fell on to the gravel, wincing as I scraped my knee and elbow.

"Whatcha got there, Kimberly?" a voice taunted. I twisted back to look at the boy. I clutched my book to my chest just as Peter snatched it out of my hand.

"Matilda," he read. "Think you're a genius, do you?"

"No," I whispered. "It's not even mine. It's a library book."

"Not anymore." He smirked at me and flipped carelessly through the pages of the book. I knelt on the pavement. My scraped knee stung and my eyes burned. My blurry vision made out Peter dangling the book over a puddle, and then a figure knocking Peter onto the playground floor so that his face was level with mine.

Warm hands helped me up. I hastily wiped my eyes, brushed off my jeans, and retrieved my worse-for-wear library book.

"Are you okay?" Concerned eyes met mine. I was pleased that Jared Cameron had helped me but mortified that I'd been unable to defend myself while he looked on. My embarrassment won out.

"I'm fine," I whispered. He released my hands from his grasp and smiled at me before turning away. I was too startled to smile back.

My psychology text book stated that proximity increases attraction. I would have to concur. The reason being that I fell in love with Jared Cameron after that incident, and then never spoke to him again the next six years that we shared classes.

I could have written a rhetorical analysis on Jared Cameron. He had a lean, muscular body-which I knew for a fact, because I had caught a glimpse of him shirtless in the change room after gym. His hair always fell over his forehead with a sort of casual elegance. And he made a point to be friends with everyone. Every once in a while, he would catch my eye in the hallways and smile in my direction. It was enough that he knew I existed, until one day it wasn't.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Jared Cameron had been on extended absence for two weeks. The school dance was in one week. Every girl who was anyone waited with bated breath for his return. And either way you did the math, I was screwed.

Frank Simmons, my lab partner, had asked me out and I had refused. Not because I was waiting for better things, but because I was going to make them happen. I was going to ask out Jared Cameron, regardless of the twenty-some girls who slipped notes into his locker and dropped off his homework after school. I devised elaborate schemes and concocted scenarios for two weeks. They were the product of an over-active imagination, and none of them met reality.

I was shaking with nerves when I knocked on the Camerons' front door, a plate of chocolate chip cookies in hand. The Camerons owned a three-story house on the edge of La Push. It was close to Forks and the modeling resembled a house from Forks more than anything from La Push, with its French windows and gabled roof. I gazed up in awe. The lawn was manicured and crisp grass crunched beneath my shoes as I walked to the door. I rang the doorbell.

My palms felt slick as I clasped them together and waited. I didn't expect Jared to answer the door. My classmates had told me enough stories. No one had seen Jared since his absence and his family had dodged everyone's questions. I was understandably shaken when the door swung open.

"Kim?" It was Jared - only it wasn't. His voice had lowered a few octaves. His black curls had been hacked off. Defined muscles had replaced his lean, muscular physique. I craned my neck to look at him when our eyes met. I exhaled. His eyes were the same - more kitten than boy. I blushed furiously at my blatant appraisal of him and stepped backward.

"I brought you cookies," I managed. "As a get-well present."

Jared glanced at the plate before meeting my eyes again. I felt my face heat and I fidgeted anxiously. I held out the plate of cookies, and almost dropped it when Jared clasped my wrist instead. The heat of his hand shocked me. I yanked my wrist free and rubbed it with my other hand. A furrow formed between Jared's eyebrows as I watched.

"Sorry," he said, looking away. "Do you want to come in?"

I nodded and followed him into the house. He wore cut-off shorts that hugged his figure. I bit my lip and looked away. The living room was, if possible, more lavish than the exterior of the house. I narrowly dodged a crystal vase near the sofa. I wasn't usually this clumsy. I wondered if any of my classmates had been invited in - and simply been too confused to share the story.

I sat down on the love seat and suppressed a shiver when Jared sat down next to me. I felt hot where my arm brushed his. I felt hot everywhere, in fact. And I realized that I hadn't thought the matter through as thoroughly as I thought.

"So how are your doing? Jared asked.

I blinked. "How are _you_?" I looked him over.

He smiled. The angles of his face softened, and he looked once again like the boy who had rescued me on my first day of middle school. My heart warmed. I managed a small smile back. He didn't look sick.

He put a hand on my upper arm. Heat seeped through my purple sweater. "Thanks for coming to check up on me," he said.

Could I ask him? I felt my face heat. Jared swiped his palm over my forehead. "You seem a little flushed. Are you sure you're okay?" His hand lingered longer than necessary. It didn't escape my notice that he was making excuses to touch me. Granted, I _was_ probably flushed.

I nodded. "I wanted to ask you..." I said, my voice trailing off.

Jared leaned closer. "Yeah?"

"Do you-I-" I swallowed. He rubbed his hand on my upper arm. I thought he was trying to soothe me, but it was doing the opposite. He was too close.

I leaned back. This was not what I had planned. Jared opened his mouth, but I cut him off. "I have to go," I said.

"What?" Jared's eyes widened. I would have been confused too if the situations were reversed. I was going to beat it and hope that Jared and I returned to our nonverbal communication in the hallways.

I scrambled off the sofa, away from where Jared looked at me with warm, brown eyes. Jared leapt to his feet and followed me as I made my way to the door.

"Kim, wait!" he called. "Will you be at school tomorrow?"

I paused to give him an incredulous look. _I_ hadn't been absent for two weeks. I regained sufficient power of speech to snap, "Of course I will." Jared looked taken aback for a moment, before I turned tail and ran.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It felt like everyone knew that I had tried to make a move on Jared Cameron yesterday afternoon. Everywhere I went, girls twittered in the hallways and whispered in the bathrooms. Then, I caught wind of their conversations.

"Have you seen Jared Cameron? I am so taking him to the dance," was the most dominant theme.

"Why hasn't Jared asked me out yet?" was another one.

I had no idea what was holding him up.

I had just opened my locker to pick up my Math textbook when I heard his voice.

"Kim?" I turned to find Jared smiling at me hesitantly.

"Hey," I muttered. My muscles tensed and my heart began to pound.

"Yesterday," he said, "when you-you came over to my place, you were going to... I mean, were you going to ask me? To the dance?"

He wore an expression of excited anticipation. I didn't like it. I knew what was going to happen. The second I confirmed it, I would be the laughingstock of the school - if I wasn't already.

"Don't flatter yourself," I said. "Yesterday was just about visiting a classmate who was sick."

Jared looked down. I watched him with indecision, until Tina Alvord stepped between the two of us. She threw her arms around Jared and hugged him fiercely.

"Hi Jared. Kim." She glanced at me. "I hope you're better, Jared. So, listen, I wanted to ask you a question." She ran her arm down his waist, while Jared seemed to recoil. I felt his eyes on me, as I avoided his gaze, stepped around them and walked to class. I felt hollow inside, like all my dreams had blown away.

I settled myself at the front of the classroom beside Mike Ross. Jared picked today, of all days, to show stellar attendance. To my consternation, Jared took a seat on my other side when he arrived five minutes later. As our teacher arrived and assigned classwork, I began to regret my seating choice. Mike and Jared both alternated in casting long, smouldering looks in my direction. It was exceedingly difficult to focus on my polynomials.

"Kim?"

I spun around. "Yes, Mike?"

"I was wondering, you know," Mike swallowed anxiously, "since we work so well together on Math projects, if you would maybe be my date? For the dance?"

I was going to let him down easy. After all, we did work together on a lot of Math projects. "I'd love to, but-"

"Kim!"

I clenched my jaw. "Yes, Jared?" He stared at me as I turned to look at him, and I took note of his flushed cheeks and shaking hands. My heart jumped. I blinked at him.

"I-Kim, could you help me with these problems?" he said. "I missed the explanation."

"Uh, yeah," I mumbled, "sure." I had thought for a second that he was going to ask me to the dance.

For the rest of the lesson, I drew out graphs and solved equations while Jared listened attentively to my instructions. It was the social hierarchy, although I had deluded myself into thinking that Jared Cameron would ask me to the dance for a few moments.

The bell rang and Jared smiled at me. "Thanks, Kim."

No one had a sunny grin like Jared Cameron. It wasn't fair. No one should look as good as Jared Cameron.

If he wasn't going to ask me, he was sure as hell going to regret it, I decided.

"Hey, Mike," I said. Mike froze while packing his books. In my peripheral vision, Jared froze while he handed in his classwork. "The answer is yes."

Mike gave me a wide-eyed stare. I reached over to brush his shoulder lightly. "I know how to show a guy a good time," I whispered. I pulled my bag over my shoulder and stood to walk out, ignoring the shocked expressions of both the boys behind me. Next time, Jared Cameron should think twice before messing with me.


End file.
